Monday, May 17, 2010

Most of you have seen me mention homemade spaghetti on Facebook, and a lot of you have asked how the heck do you make spaghetti?!

My mama never fed me Ragu as a child, so I just learned to cook the sauce exactly like she did. It's delicious, full of flavor, healthy, and you know exactly what's going in it. Since you made it, and all.

I'll start off by saying that we eat a lot of spaghetti 'round these parts. It's one of our favorite meals. I can cook the entire meal in 25 minutes. It's healthy. And it's el cheapo. We only use half a "pack" (pound) of hamburger meat, so we can really make two meals out of one pound of beef. Noodles are very cheap, and canned goods are cheap too. Especially if you're shopping at Walmart.

So follow me on this Italian journey (snicker snicker) and see just how easy it is to make delectable spaghetti sauce that will make your Airman's mouth water...

My Mama's Spaghetti Sauce 101:

1. Brown your beef. I stick it in the same pot in which I'll make my sauce. It saves me from washing an extra dish. And I hate washing dishes. Afterward, drain the grease. Like I said, we use half a pound for the two of us. It's plenty.

not the most appetizing picture

2. Pull your Diced Tomatoes & Tomato PASTE out of the cabinet. Paste. Not sauce. And it needs to be these sizes too. Dump them both on top of the beef. Fill up the diced tomatoes can 3/4 full of water. Dump the water on top of it.

Great Value is JUST as good as Hunts

Did that make sense? I hope so. So now you have ground beef, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and 3/4 a can of water in your pot.

It's coming together now! See?!

3. Yank the Black Pepper, Oregano, and Basil off your spice rack. Also grab the salt [not pictured]. Pour in a lot of black pepper, a few generous shakes of oregano, and a lot of basil. And don't be timid. Just shake your arm off. I take my salt and just drizzle it in there. Lots of spices. Go for it.

Black Pepper is such a hit that our label is coming off..

4. That's it. Just keep simmering. And tasting. And tasting some more, because it's so darn good that you'll make yourself believe that you need to keep taste testing. Even though you know it's perfect.

It's hard to take a photo with all that steam goin' on..

That's it. Somewhere in there, you need to stick some spaghetti noodles in a pot of water and salt your water. And also, you need to prepare a salad with diced tomatoes. Because salads go with spaghetti... in our opinion. I wish I knew how to make garlic bread, but I'm no Julia Child over here.

So there we have it. Not as easy as yanking the jar of Ragu out of the pantry and heating it up. But it's so much better. It's insanely better. The taste is out of this world. Please give it a whirl. You'll chuck your jar of Ragu out the window and never look back. I promise!

100% Husband Approved!

Yep, Mark thinks this stuff is the bomb. I even got a high five after he took the first bite. And then he was so excited about its awesomeness that he got out of his chair to kiss me because it tasted so good. Has Ragu ever gotten you a high-five or a kiss? I doubt it.

I bet I make my mom just SO proud on a daily basis. Right mom? Right? :)

There are zillions of ways to make spaghetti sauce. If you use a different "recipe," let me hear about it! Yum!

Yep, it keeps em from sticking! I think. My mom always taught me to, and the box says to add salt to the water. So I just assume it's to prevent sticking.. and to add flavor to noodles probably too. Yummy!

What's also yummy are the Great Value peanut butter cookies at Walmart. And SUPER cheap. Great Value should hire me to represent them because I just love their products! lol!

I use tomato paste, petite diced tomatoes, and hunts traditional sketti sauce... I mix it all together and then I add some brown sugar to cut the acid.. and I also add salt and pepper and a little bit of garlic salt.. So I make it kinda similar to you.. :) And I also put salt in my noodles too! :)

Hey! I found your blog awhile back somehow and have been checking in from time to time. I just wanted to tell you garlic bread is so simple! It would go great with this meal (which you know, because you mentioned it!)

We get a loaf of bread from the bakery, slice it (but not all the way through, keep it all connected at the bottom, does that make sense?), butter it and shake in some garlic salt on each slice. We wrap it in tin foil and throw it in the oven to warm up and voila, garlic bread!

Congrats on the little one as well, since I am de-lurking right now and all :)

The salt in the pasta water is for the taste. I also put a little oil or butter to keep it from sticking together. It looks good. Glad that you like to make Mark food. I know he likes to eat. Love, mom

My husband has a problem tolerating the acidity of most store-bought sauces, so we make our own, as well. We used the tomato paste and diced tomatoes, the same, but add basil, fresh parsley, garlic, black olives, and a splash of white wine. Its so good!

Yum! I'm gonna have to make that! We just normally buy Newman's Own sauce, but this sounds so much better! And, I love the pictures. I have to tell you that I laughed out loud when I read the line about Coca-cola and Hidden Valley. You're too cute! :)

I'm going to try it, but I will add fresh basil out of my herb garden. I also like the McCormick spices that you freshly grind. Kroger runs them on sale from time to time for $1 a piece(usually in the summer)! Thanks for the recipe!...

You missy, need to set up your email so that when you comment I can reply back to you :) Don't worry though, as soon as it's official that we're in the real deal labor and going to leave with a baby I'll be blogging it :)

Or find me on twitter if you have twitter, my name thingy is crazyfish421 :)

Shannon

I grew up in Kentucky, met my soul mate at church, married him two years later, and waved goodbye as he left to join the Air Force just two weeks into our marriage. I learned a heckuva lot about life, love, and sacrifice in our first year as husband and wife!

Being a mommy is my greatest joy in life.

Mark

Mark is serving our country in the United States Air Force as an electrician. He loves his career and loves his family even more. He surprises me daily with how awesome of a Daddy he can be. I am absolutely in love with him and SO thankful for him!

Little Toot

Our sweet girl entered our lives on October 20, 2010, and our lives have never been more full or more fun! She's timid, yet spunky and independent; cuddly yet always on the go. She loves learning new words, playing babies and kitchen, and being near her Mama. Her love for babies makes us very excited to see her become Big Sister this fall!

Piper

Piper is our 2-year-old West Highland Terrier! She's full of spunk and brings unimaginable joy to our lives. Piper can be found napping on the couch, snuggled next to me, carrying a "nip" around the house, or rough housing with her favorite raccoon toy! She takes her role as "protector" of our family very seriously and is always guarding our house!